Does she look healthy including poop image

[MistakenCritter]

Hi guys, had my girl a couple of weeks now, she is settling in nicely, she is was sold as a 3 month old but she was very small so could have possibly been 2 months old, on the 1st day we got her she ate between 12_15 small crickets, but then she didn't eat for a couple of days, but now she's eating between 7-13 crickets a day I bought some dubias and have started a colony but she wasn't overly interested in the dubias, she has also been eating silkworms and she's had 2 wax worms (as a treat) in 2 weeks, she is in a fully bioactive enclosure and she has been eaten a couple of small tiny flies, I just wondered if someone could let me know if she looks ok, I think the poop looks ok but just want confirmation ideally

 

[MistakenCritter]

The rear leg looks kind of funny but it's absolutely fine, she is camera shy and was trying to make a great escape before I snapped a pic also the leaf she pooped on already had water on it from overnight fogging so her poop didn't come out that wet lol

 

[GrannyK]

She looks good and so does her poop. pretty little lady you have

 

[MistakenCritter]

Thank you, I may be slightly biased but she is lovely, she's normally a really light pinky kind of colour when she is not trying to run away from the camera, just happy to hear she looks ok,

 

[Beman]

Other angles of her would be helpful so we can see full body condition, from this angle limbs look a little thin. Fecal can look fine even with a parasite load, so keep that in mind. Note she should be eating far more daily then she is. At this age they should be taking down 2-3 dozen small insects daily. They need this to maintain growth and body tone.

 

[MistakenCritter]

Yeah I was a little concerned about her not eating enough but spoke to a few breeders who live in the UK and apparently for the first few weeks they can be a bit funny with their food whilst getting used to their new environment

 

[MistakenCritter]

Here's a pic of her right now

 

[Beman]

In my experience a new chameleon will start eating pretty rapidly especially at this age. As long as they have easy access to insects they recognize as food and the insects are size appropriate for the current size of the chameleon. Of course issues in husbandry can impact their appetite. Things like making sure your temps and UVB along with supplements are on point are very important.

How are you feeding her?
What is the basking temp?
What Uvb fixture and bulb strength are you using?
What supplements are you using and in what frequency?


Can you post a picture of the entire cage set up showing the lighting on top as well.

 

[MistakenCritter]

Ok so I feed her 30 mins to an hour after lights come on, I put about 15 crickets in a square tub that I got my springtails delivered in, it's about 5inch x 5 inch shallow plastic tub, I placed it on a branch in her enclosure,I dust with calcium only every feed and today was the 1st day I used a calcium with d3 (again this is only the 2nd week I've had her) uvb is a arcadia pro luminize 6% and basking temp was set at 26°c to 28°c but she was spending all day under the basking lamp so I upped it to 30°c which comes on at 7.30am (luvb and plant light comes on at 7am) I have a fogger and mister, mister goes on for 1 min at 7.30pm (30 mins after lights go off) then fogger intermittently fogs through the night) the only thing I haven't got is a uvb tester as the 6.5 tester is on back order in the UK,

 

[MistakenCritter]

Oh sorry forgot to add the jungle dawn, I also have pc 180mm pc fans lightly blowing through the bottom vents, humidity is between 40 and 60 at the absolute highest during the day and between 90 and 100 at night

 

[Beman]

Ok so I feed her 30 mins to an hour after lights come on, I put about 15 crickets in a square tub that I got my springtails delivered in, it's about 5inch x 5 inch shallow plastic tub, See if you can drop that down between branches... Only thing about it is that it is clear. She may be targeting the outside. If you can get a feeder run that would be better in the long run. Add 24 crickets so there is more active movement.

I placed it on a branch in her enclosure,I dust with calcium only every feed and today was the 1st day I used a calcium with d3 (again this is only the 2nd week I've had her) You want to use plain calcium without d3 at every feed. And then you want a multivitamin with vitamin A and D3 to use 2 times a month say the 1st and the 15th. Always lightly dust with supplements. If you show me what you have purchased for supplements I can double check them.

uvb is a arcadia pro luminize 6% and basking temp was set at 26°c to 28°c but she was spending all day under the basking lamp so I upped it to 30°c Temps are too hot at 30c. Should be no hotter than 26c at basking. What type of bulb are you using for your basking? Babies bask quite a bit due to the food intake. Uvb with what you are using your needing about a 8-9 inch distance to the branch to get a 3 UVI.

which comes on at 7.30am (luvb and plant light comes on at 7am) I have a fogger and mister, mister goes on for 1 min at 7.30pm (30 mins after lights go off) then fogger intermittently fogs through the night) Keep an eye on her urates. You may need to add a late day to evening misting that is longer.

the only thing I haven't got is a uvb tester as the 6.5 tester is on back order in the UK, This is fine when you can get it you will just have peace of mind. Just ensure your distance to branches right below it is within the right 8-9 inch range.

also have pc 180mm pc fans lightly blowing through the bottom vents, humidity is between 40 and 60 at the absolute highest during the day and between 90 and 100 at night. These are good levels with the air circulation you have added.

 

[MistakenCritter]

Ok so this is what I am using every single feed the pr rep calci dust, then the nutri rep with D3 once every 2 weeks, I did buy a load of the revitalised d3 from arcadia but posted about that the other day on here so decided to get some nutri rep instead, the main branch is exactly 8 inches away from the bulb, but she spends most of her day up high in the focus tree at the back under the basking bulb, the basking bulb itself is a 60w arcadia basking bulb with arcadia shade, I 3d printed a cricket run thing but she won't go near it, then all the crickets jump out and in forever trying to get them out of her enclosure because I'm scared they will bite her during the night, I did want to try free feeding but didn't for this reason, I tried her with dubias and she isn't interested in them much (think it's possibly because they don't move as much but I'm not sure, I tried misting in morning and at night for 2 mins each but found it's more difficult to maintain the correct humidity during the day, but I forgot to mention she does have a dripper running all day from when the lights turn on to when they go off, I read mixed things regarding basking temps but I will drop it down to 26 and see if it makes a difference

 

[MistakenCritter]

And this is her right now, the heat lamp I have set to drop down to 24 at 3.30pm it's now 5.45pm but again, she is in her ficus tree up higher than her basking branch about 5 inches away from the heat lamp

 

[MistakenCritter]

Sorry just to add one more thing, her skin between her tail and her back looks very dry, do you think she might be getting ready to shed possibly

 

[MistakenCritter]

And I'm really sorry, just to add another thing, this is normally where I placed her food pot, it was only up higher in the earlier pictures just to try and entice her to eat more

 

[Beman]

Ok so this is what I am using every single feed the pr rep calci dust, then the nutri rep with D3 once every 2 weeks, I did buy a load of the revitalised d3 from arcadia but posted about that the other day on here so decided to get some nutri rep instead, the main branch is exactly 8 inches away from the bulb, but she spends most of her day up high in the focus tree at the back under the basking bulb, the basking bulb itself is a 60w arcadia basking bulb with arcadia shade, I 3d printed a cricket run thing but she won't go near it, then all the crickets jump out and in forever trying to get them out of her enclosure because I'm scared they will bite her during the night, I did want to try free feeding but didn't for this reason, I tried her with dubias and she isn't interested in them much (think it's possibly because they don't move as much but I'm not sure, I tried misting in morning and at night for 2 mins each but found it's more difficult to maintain the correct humidity during the day, but I forgot to mention she does have a dripper running all day from when the lights turn on to when they go off, I read mixed things regarding basking temps but I will drop it down to 26 and see if it makes a difference

Ok go back to the revitalise D3. Your calcium with D3 is missing other vitamins like vitamin A. Your UVB is on point enough to not stress using it. Use this every 8 days. Follow the cycle I posted for you.

Temps at 26c are good. She is just going to try to get high. But ambient temps with everything you are running are keeping her warm enough. Stay with the plastic tub your using. try to get the sides down more though so she is not trying to target them. Add more crickets into it. Dont stress adding tons of new feeders right now. Just toss a few in with the crickets she knows.

As long as your running a dripper you are good. Might consider flipping your misting to late in the day. Might be able to do a bit longer misting session then as well. But typically if your dealing with bioactive or hybrid style you will have issues with ambient daytime humidity if you are misting in the morning. As long as you have the dripper start in the morning she will have the opportunity to drink.

And this is her right now, the heat lamp I have set to drop down to 24 at 3.30pm it's now 5.45pm but again, she is in her ficus tree up higher than her basking branch about 5 inches away from the heat lamp

She looks good and content there. Doing a slow cool down with her temps in the afternoon is good. This will also allow for a late misting instead because your temps are cooling.

Sorry just to add one more thing, her skin between her tail and her back looks very dry, do you think she might be getting ready to shed possibly

Could very well be about to shed. Happens fast at this age. They kinda just all the sudden are shedding.

And I'm really sorry, just to add another thing, this is normally where I placed her food pot, it was only up higher in the earlier pictures just to try and entice her to eat more

This is perfect for position. Add more and she will see constant moving. This is going to entice her more to eat.

 

[MistakenCritter]

Thank you so much for your help mate, honestly many many years ago we had a yeman chamelon back when t8 lights were the right thing to use, and I didn't worry half as much as I am with this panther chameleon lol, I said to the misses "now all the kids are older, our daughter has moved out and had her own child and our 2 sons pretty much live with their girlfriends I think it's time we got another chameleon" she's now saying we should have just had another kid, their easier to look after

 

[MistakenCritter]

I honestly did so much research before committing, from Neptune the chameleon to the chameleon academy and a few in between, I purchased and set everything up and had it all running well before I picked her up..... But I suppose it's these kind of situations I overlooked,

 

[MistakenCritter]

And she's just sitting here looking completely stressed free, just chilling before lights go out

 

[MistakenCritter]

Also I have sensors throughout the enclosure, so I have lowered the basking temp from 30 to 26 from 7.30am untill 3.30pm then to 24 from 3.30pm until light out at 7pm, the middle of the enclosure stays between 23-24 degrees, the bottom of the enclosure is 20 degrees, night time temps are also about 17-19 degrees, and I get 2 humidity readings, one from center of enclosure and one at the top is this the correct way